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6
Second Declension Nouns (Module A)
Masculine Nouns and the Article
Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1)
Lesso n Six Overview
§6.0 Introduction, 145
§6.1 The Greek Inflectional System, 146
§6.2 The NTGreek Case System, 157
§6.3 The Definite Article, 169
§6.4 Declension-Paradigm Abbreviations, 176
§6.5 Grammatical Parsing, 177
§6.6 Learning Vocabulary, 180
§6.7 Vocabulary Study, 182
Study Guide, 185
§6.0 Introduction
Every language has its own distinctive means by which to communicate
ideas. If English is the native language, then communicating in English is
natural because its distinctiveness is understood. What constitutes the
English language unique among the other languages of the world is its
method of expressing its ideas as it relates to unique syntax, grammar and
vocabulary. All other languages or systems of expressing concepts are
foreign unless having gained some familiarity with them.
The method of expressing ideas within a language is integrated into its
complete linguistic organization. English has its linguistic orderliness, as
does Greek. What differentiates Greek from English, however, is Greek￿s
distinctive precision of expressing word relationships with other words.
This is accomplished in Greek by a highly organized system of inflection.
Greek has words composed of stems modified in various ways according
to their grammatical function in the sentence. The system of different but
related forms is the language￿s morphology, which in Greek is principally a
matter of different prefixes and suffixes attached to the stem of a word. A
well-developed inflected language dramatically reduces grammatical
' Dr. William D. Ramey ¤ Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1) InTheBeginning.org
Lesson 6: Second Declension Nouns (Module A) Page 146
Masculine Nouns and the Article
________________________________________________________________
ambiguities that a partially inflected language such as English inherently
possesses. This difference alone merits learning NTGreek. Grammatical
precision was vital for transmission of theological truth as articulated by the
NTGreek authors.
Lesson Six begins a multi-part
series exploring the Greek
inflected nominal system. Among
other parts of speech, nouns ,
adjectives, pronouns, and
pronominal adjectives share
inflectional characteristics and patterns, and so constitute part of the
nominal system. It is essential to gain a thorough familiarity with the Greek
full range of nominal morphological forms in order to be a proficient reader
of NTGreek.
§6.1 Introduction to the Greek Inflectional System
Inflection refers to the spelling changes words undergo in accordance
with their grammatical function in a sentence. Inflection in nominal forms is
called declension , and for verbs, conjugation . The word inflection is
derived from a Latin verb (< inflecto ), meaning, ￿I bend￿. Inflected words
are ￿bent￿ or altered from the simplest form (stem) by changes to the stem
of the word, or by changes caused by the addition of affixes.
English has a limited inflectional system that includes words or parts of
words that are arranged in formally similar sets consisting of a stem and
various affixes. Thus ￿walking￿, ￿walks￿, and ￿walker￿ have in common the
stem ￿walk￿ and the affixes ￿-ing￿, ￿s￿, and ￿-er￿. An inflectional affix carries
certain grammatical restrictions with it; for example, with the plural
inflection ￿-s￿, a change from singular to plural in the noun ￿boy/boys￿
requires a change in the verb form from singular to plural: ￿the boy is tall,￿
￿the boys are tall.￿ Sometimes, plural inflection is indicated by internal
spelling changes as in ￿man/men￿ and ￿foot/feet￿, and at other times,
indistinguishable except by context: ￿moose/moose￿ and ￿deer/deer￿.
Similarly, Greek is inflectional, but to a higher degree than English.
Although Greek contains uninflected parts of speech, most undergo
inflection. These parts of speech, including nouns, pronouns, adjectives,
verbs, participles, and the article (￿the￿) have different forms to indicate
gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), number (singular or plural), and
' Dr. William D. Ramey ¤ Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1) InTheBeginning.org
The Greek language is one of the
most highly inflected languages in
the world. This assures the least
grammatical ambiguities when
reading the Greek New Testament.
 
Lesson 6: Second Declension Nouns (Module A) Page 147
Masculine Nouns and the Article
________________________________________________________________
function (direct address, subject, possession, and indirect and direct
object). Without careful study, one becomes bewildered by the complexity
of the Greek inflectional system. There is not a grammar in existence that
can remove the diligent study necessary to learn their inflectional system.
If advertised otherwise, they are selling something.
Essentially, the term ￿nominal system￿ is the overarching term which
includes nouns, pronouns (personal, demonstrative, relative, reflexive,
interrogative, reciprocal, possessive, and emphatic), adjectives, numerals,
and not least, the (definite) article.
However, before introducing the Greek inflectional system, it is essential
first to grasp the concept of inflection. This will be accomplished by
distinguishing how a noun may function differently within sentences. A
noun is a word which names or designates a person, thing, or quality.
Essentially, it is an appellation. The English word ￿noun￿ is derived from
the Latin nomen , which means ￿a name￿.
Although English has a limited inflectional system, it is sentence order, not
inflection, that primarily determines how words function in a sentence.
Consider the two following sentences.
￿An apostle sees the man .￿
￿The man sees an apostle .￿
These two declarative sentences contain identical words; however, they
convey very different meanings. The divergent meanings are determined
by the relationship in each sentence that the nouns ￿apostle￿ and ￿man￿
sustain with the verb ￿sees￿. Although the spelling of these nouns did not
change to reflect their different function ( i.e. , either subject [performer of
the action of the verb] or object [receiver of the action of the verb]), their
function changed according to their placement in the sentence order.
Consistent with English language structure, the subject precedes the verb,
and the object follows the verb. Word order is so vital in English that very
little flexibility is permitted. For example, ￿Sees an apostle the man￿, or
￿The man an apostle sees￿ is non-sensible because English￿s linguistic
orderliness does not permit it. This is not true in Greek because of the
genius of inflection.
Let us now examine the same declarative sentences in Greek.
' Dr. William D. Ramey ¤ Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1) InTheBeginning.org
 
Lesson 6: Second Declension Nouns (Module A) Page 148
Masculine Nouns and the Article
________________________________________________________________
listen `)on/rsnkn i akd/odh sn[m `!mpqvon m
apostle sees the man
Subject
Verb
Direct Object
Notice that the last consonant of these
two Greek words are different!
The noun, ￿apostle￿ ( `)on/rsnkni ) is the subject of the sentence.
However, it is not the subject because it occurs before the verb (as in
English), but because of its inflected form (the final sigma denotes this).
Likewise, the object of the verb (￿sees￿) is ￿man￿ ( `!mpqvonm ), not because
it follows the verb, but because of its inflected form (the final n￿ denotes
this). This same sentence would make good sense in Greek if its word
order be changed in any of the following ways:
(1) akd/odh `)on/rsnkn i sn[m `!mpqvon m
(2) `)on/rsnkn i sn[m `!mpqvon m akd/odh
(3) sn[m `!mpqvon m `)on/rsnkn i akd/odh
(4) akd/odh sn[m `!mpqvon m `)on/rsnkn i
(5) sn[m `!mpqvon m akd/odh `)on/rsnkn i
All the examples above are possible in Greek. The first, however, follows
normal Greek sentence word order (subject typically follows the verb).
In most instances, changing English sentence order to reflect the Greek
author￿s original authorial intent would be catastrophic. However, because
Greek indicates the function of a noun according to inflection, sentence
order is not as crucial. It should be noted, however, that Greek sentence
order is not completely free. For example, in all the above Greek
examples, the definite article, sn[m , always occurred before `!mpqvonm .
When elements are moved from their ￿normal￿ sentence order, prominence
is placed upon that element. This is the genius of inflection. Thus,
sn[m `!mpqvonm (the direct object of akd/odh ) in examples 3 and 5 is
especially emphasized because it is moved out of its normal sentence
order (normally after the verb) and placed first in the sentence, although
undetectable when translated into English! The same is true concerning
' Dr. William D. Ramey ¤ Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1) InTheBeginning.org
 
 
Lesson 6: Second Declension Nouns (Module A) Page 149
Masculine Nouns and the Article
________________________________________________________________
`)on/rsnkni (the subject of the verb, akd/odh ) in example 2, because it is
￿fronted￿ (moved forward) in the sentence.
Conversely, ￿man￿ can be made the subject and ￿apostle￿ the object in the
sentence by inflecting the nouns respectively to indicate their grammatical
function in the sentence.
`!mpqvon i akd/odh sn[m `)on/rsnkn m
man sees the apostle
Subject
Verb
Direct Object
Notice that the function of these two Greek words
was changed according to the word￿s inflection.
The subject of the sentence again ends with the
consonant rh/fl` , and the direct object, mt <.
Once again, because of inflection, the sentence order may be rearranged
to emphasize different elements within this declarative sentence.
(1) akd/odh sn[m `)on/rsnkn m `!mpqvon i
(2) `!mpqvon i sn[m `)on/rsnkn m akd/odh
(3) sn[m `)on/rsnkn m `!mpqvon i akd/odh
(4) akd/odh sn[m `)on/rsnkn m
`!mpqvon i
(5) sn[m `)on/rsnkn m akd/odh `!mpqvon i
Numerous instances can be cited from the Greek New Testament wherein
a literarily emphasis is intended by its sentence order. For example, Luke
in his the prologue (1:1-4) emphasizes the word ￿certainty￿ ( `)re`&kdh` ) by
placing it last in the sentence. Future lessons will underscore this
deliberate and significant literary device. Although English sentence order
is inflexible due to its inherit linguistic parameters, those who continue to
learn NTGreek will gain appreciation of being able to read God￿s Word
without this interference of a translation.
Greek plural subjects and plural direct objects are also inflected. Whereas
their function in the sentence remains the same, a spelling change occurs
to indicate the plural. Let us look at an example where both the subject
and the direct object are in the plural form.
' Dr. William D. Ramey ¤ Morphology: The Nominal System (Part 1) InTheBeginning.org
 
 

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